An associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States is a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, other than the chief justice of the United States. The number of associate justices is eight, as set by the Judiciary Act of 1869.
Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 of the Constitution of the United States grants plenary power to the president to nominate, and with the advice and consent (confirmation) of the Senate, appoint justices to the Supreme Court. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution effectively grants life tenure to associate justices, and all other federal judges, which ends only when a justice dies, retires, resigns, or is impeached and convicted.
Each Supreme Court justice has a single vote in deciding the cases argued before it, and the chief justice's vote counts no more than that of any other justice; however, the chief justice leads the discussion of the case among the justices. Furthermore, the chief justice—when in the majority—decides who writes the court's opinion; otherwise, the senior justice in the majority assigns the writing of a decision. The chief justice also has certain administrative responsibilities that the other justices do not and is paid slightly more ($298,500 per year as of 2023, compared to $285,400 per year for an associate justice).
Associate justices have seniority in order of the date their respective commissions bear, although the chief justice is always considered to be the most senior justice. If two justices are commissioned on the same day, the elder is designated the senior justice of the two. Currently, the senior associate justice is Clarence Thomas. By tradition, when the justices are in conference deliberating the outcome of cases before the Supreme Court, the justices state their views in order of seniority. The senior associate justice is also tasked with carrying out the chief justice's duties when he is unable to, or if that office is vacant.
Current associate justices There are currently eight associate justices on the Supreme Court. The justices, ordered by seniority, are:
Retired associate justices An associate justice who leaves the Supreme Court after attaining the age and meeting the service requirements prescribed by federal statute () may retire rather than resign. After retirement, they keep their title, and by custom may also keep a set of chambers in the Supreme Court building, and employ law clerks. The names of retired associate justices continue to appear alongside those of the active justices in the bound volumes of Supreme Court decisions. Federal statute () provides that retired Supreme Court justices may serve—if designated and assigned by the chief justice—on panels of the U.S. courts of appeals, or on the U.S. district courts. Retired justices are not, however, authorized to take part in the consideration or decision of any cases before the Supreme Court (unlike other retired federal judges who may be permitted to do so in their former courts); neither are they known or designated as a "senior judge". When, after his retirement, William O. Douglas attempted to take a more active role than was customary, maintaining that it was his prerogative to do so because of his senior status, he was rebuffed by Chief Justice Warren Burger and admonished by the whole Court. There are currently two living retired associate justices: Anthony Kennedy, retired July 31, 2018, and Stephen Breyer, retired June 30, 2022.
List of associate justices Since the Supreme Court was established in 1789, the following 104 persons have served as an associate justice:
#NameReplacingConfirmation Vote DateTermAppointerPrior Position1New seat(Acclamation)–March 4, 1791Governor of South Carolina(1779–1782)2New seat(Acclamation)–September 13, 1810Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court(1777–1789)3New seat(Acclamation)–August 21, 1798Delegate to the Constitutional Convention(1787)4New seat(Acclamation)–October 25, 1795Member of the Virginia House of Burgesses(1766–1770)5New seat(Acclamation)–October 20, 1799Attorney General of North Carolina(1779–1782)6J. Rutledge(Acclamation)–January 16, 1793Governor of Maryland(1777–1779)7T. Johnson(Acclamation)–September 8, 1806Governor of New Jersey(1790–1793)8Blair(Acclamation)–June 19, 1811Chief Justice of the Maryland General Court(1791–1796)9Wilson(Acclamation)–November 26, 1829Delegate to the Virginia Ratifying Convention(1788)10Iredell(Acclamation)–January 26, 1804Attorney General of North Carolina(1782–1791)11Moore(Acclamation)–August 4, 1834Speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives(1798–1800)12Paterson(Acclamation)–March 18, 1823Justice of the New York Supreme Court(1802–1807)13New seat(Acclamation)–February 7, 1826Chief Justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals(1806–1807)14Chase(Acclamation)–January 12, 1835U.S. Representative from Maryland's 2nd district(1794–1796)15Cushing(Acclamation)–September 10, 1845U.S. Representative from Massachusetts's 2nd district(1808–1809)16Livingston(Acclamation)–December 18, 1843United States Secretary of the Navy(1819–1823)17Todd(25–5)–August 25, 1828Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Kentucky(1817–1826)18Trimble(Acclamation)–April 4, 1861United States Postmaster General(1823–1829)19Washington(41–2)–April 21, 1844U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania's 14th district(1817–1822)20W. Johnson(Acclamation)–July 5, 1867U.S. Representative from Georgia's at-large district(1829–1835)21Duvall(30–11)–February 25, 1841Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia(1830–1836)22New seat(28–15)–May 30, 1865Judge of the Tennessee Supreme Court of Errors and Appeals(1824–1834)23New seat(Acclamation)–July 19, 1852United States Senator from Alabama(1826–1831, 1837)24Barbour(25–5)–May 31, 1860Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia(1836–1841)25Thompson(Acclamation)–November 28, 1872Chief Justice of the New York Supreme Court(1831–1845)26Story(Acclamation)–September 4, 1851United States Secretary of the Treasury(1834–1841)27Baldwin(Acclamation)–January 31, 1870Judge for the Pennsylvania District Court for Allegheny County(1833–1846)28Woodbury(Acclamation)–September 30, 1857Massachusetts State Representative29McKinley(Acclamation)–April 30, 1861Alabama State Representative30Curtis(26–23)–July 25, 1881United States Attorney General(1846–1848)31McLean(38–1)–January 24, 1881U.S. attorney for the District of Ohio(1830–1834)32Daniel(Acclamation)–October 13, 1890Lawyer,Private practice33Campbell(Acclamation)–March 3, 1877Judge of the Illinois 3rd Circuit Court(1848–1862)34New seat(Acclamation)–December 1, 1897